What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – but how strong can one person be?

Griff Hendry knows what it is to be strong. After a turbulent past, he’s dedicated himself to saving lives, working as a coastguard along the breath-taking shores of Dorset. It’s Griff’s belief that everyone is worth saving – which is why he can’t forgive his father, Logan, for what he did.
Griff’s future is plunged into uncertainty when his wife, Evie, tells him she wants a separation. The revelation is a shock and leads Griff to question what Evie could possibly be hiding – and she isn’t the only one holding back. Griff’s troubled stepdaughter, Tess, also harbours a dark secret.

As the truth is uncovered, Griff is forced to accept that perhaps he’s never understood what real strength is.

Wow, what a spine-tingling novel Laura E. James has delivered with ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’. Part of Choc Lit’s Dark imprint, James’ latest novel is a hard hitting story of love, family and betrayal in its many forms.

We follow this story from various characters points-of-view, all of whom we grow to love and cherish as the novel goes on. Griff, the hero of our story, is in the middle of watching his marriage crumble, yet unable to fix it. I loved seeing his perspective on his relationship with Evie, and his hopelessness in understanding why his wife is so distant. Evie has her own problems, not helped by her estrangement with Griff which she has the added guilt of having pushed him away. The dilemma she faces in trying to help Griff’s ailing father who wants her to aid him in his attempt to euthanise himself, and keeping her own family safe all wells up within her, andnd Laura James does a fantastic job at adding the pressure to Evie’s perspective and making the reader feel Evie’s stress that is constantly growing.

The perspective that I grew to love the most was of Evie’s teenage daughter Tess. Seeing the conflicting thoughts of this girl who has had a traumatic past, an uncertain future, and demons that she can’t share, was so heartbreaking that watching her develop and grow throughout the novel was something to treasure. As outside forces try to pull the only family that Tess has ever known apart, she is the one who shows the most strength and is the glue that fits the broken family together.

This story is a heartbreaking one. There are demons of the past that won’t let go, promises for the future that can’t be trusted, but most of all, a love so strong that giving up is not an option.